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Thursday, September 06, 2007

What is the Health Care solution?

I've heard a lot of arguments on both sides, about what America should do about the health care crisis. I think there are a lot of misunderstandings about what some of the proposed solutions are, though. But, when I read a story like Suzanne's, I know something has to be done.

Suzanne from Manchester shared her story about falling into Medicare Part D’s “doughnut hole” – the gulf between the low cap of prescription medication costs covered by Medicare and the high threshold for coverage for catastrophic insurance. She said

I was paying maybe $6 to $28 for my prescriptions and I thought, ‘well great, what is everybody complaining about?’ And one day my husband came home from the pharmacy with two of my prescriptions, and he said, ‘you know this cost over $200.’ I had fallen into the doughnut hole.

Although covered by Medicare Part D from January to August, Suzanne has to pay the full costs for her prescribed medicine from September to December. Ballooning costs have forced Suzanne to make a last resort decision. She takes her most expensive drugs, prescribed for her coronary disease condition, every other day.

Our health care system is failing us, and something must be done. Out of all of the proposed plans that I've read about, Barack Obama's health care plan is the one that makes the most sense to me. I think it will achieve the goal of covering Americans, but will also be feasible to get it passed in Congress.

Barack Obama believes we live in the greatest country in the world and that when it comes to health care, America can and must do better. The Obama plan will save a typical American family up to $2,500 every year on premiums by:

1. Providing affordable, comprehensive and portable health coverage for every American; 2. Modernizing the U.S. health care system to contain spiraling health care costs and improve the quality of patient care; and 3. Promoting prevention and strengthening public health to prevent disease and protect against natural and man-made disasters.

I really like that on Obama's health care plan page, he's got a feedback tool, asking for input from individuals. It really makes me confident that when he becomes president, he will be the people's president, and continue making policy decisions with input from American citizens.